A dinner-plate sized black hole opened in the air next to Alan Crane’s seat. A black cat with a white fur stain atop its head stepped out of the hole and looked up at the thin, lanky man. The white splotch on its head resembled a skull.
“New pickup,” the cat spoke with a soft, feminine voice. Alan’s head dropped as he released a heavy sigh. He felt relieved it was only a “pickup”. “Check your node for details. Usual drop off,” the cat stood and turned to enter its hole again. It paused halfway in the hole, then turned to face Alan. He saw golden eyes staring at him from inside the black hole.
“Yes, Janet,” he mumbled. The cat’s head bobbed in a faint nod, then she disappeared along with her black hole. Alan reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a small, transparent rectangle. He woke it and a picture of a dark-haired girl wearing a black visor appeared on the display. He glanced down at the only information provided.
- Abby Araña: Unique #33 – La Araña. Unique ability – Swarm Summon
“Damnit Janet,” he grumbled at the empty air where the black hole was. “Better get started.” Alan placed his hands on each empty seat next to him and closed his eyes. “Everybody out,” he thought. A small, bright purple scorpion climbed out of his cuff on one hand. A dark black scorpion crawled out of his other cuff. After that, dozens more scorpions in varying colors and sizes followed out of his sleeves. Once he released them all he sat up straight in his chair and waited for the next stop.
A small crowd of ten people, including a girl with a black visor, boarded at the next stop. Alan breathed out in relaxation, it seemed luck was on his side for once. Once the train left the station, Alan’s scorpions knocked out all the other passengers. Abby did not seem to notice that almost everyone else was unconscious. The girl’s attention seemed focused on her node. Alan sent a single scorpion to sting her to test her reaction. She did not move at all, but Alan felt the nameless scorpion die.
“Did anyone see what happened?” he mentally asked his minions.
“Spiders crawled out of her skin to kill him. A lot of spiders,” one of his scorpions replied into his mind.
“Okay. Get ready,” Alan reached into his coat pocket. “Rush her!” he gave the command and stood from his seat at the same time. He pulled a tazer out of his pocket and fired it at the young girl. Two
Alan watched his soldiers crawl at Abby from all sides but spiders poured out of her skin like water. Her spiders protected her like living armor, they assaulted anything that got too close. Alan dashed across the subway car towards Abby, his skin hardened and became purple chitin to protect him from spider bites.
He grabbed her hair to pull her out of her seat and dozens of black widow spiders crawled out of her hair to climb up his arm. He felt the spiders attempt to sting him, but his carapace kept him protected. Abby’s black visor fell off when he yanked her hair, and Alan paused at the sight. Behind her visor, her eyes consisted of two black holes in her head. Abby giggled as two giant,
“Now, Sleepy!” he commanded the purple scorpion that crawled along the ceiling of the subway car. While Abby’s hundreds of eyes focused on Alan, Sleepy landed on her head and sunk his stinger into her neck. She fell unconscious immediately.
Without her controlling them, the spiders crawled away. The swarm dissipated, but the two largest spiders that crawled out of her skull returned to her eye sockets. They bothered Alan enough that he put her black visor back on her face before he lifted her over his shoulder.
